PHP CRUD Operations with JSON File

By: CodexWorld | In: PHP | Last Updated: Mar 1, 2022

CRUD operations in the web application are used to manage data dynamically. Generally, the data is stored and manipulated in the database. There is also an alternative way to perform CRUD operations without a database. If you have any limitations with the database, JSON format is the best option to build a CRUD application with a JSON file instead of a database.

PHP CRUD operations with MySQL database is the best way to create (insert), read (select), update, and delete records in the web application. The JSON file can be used to integrate CRUD functionality in PHP instead of a database like MySQL. In this tutorial, we will show you how to create a simple CRUD application to list, view, add, edit, and delete records with JSON file using PHP.

We will implement the following functionality to build an example PHP CRUD script with JSON.

Fetch members’ data from the JSON file and list it on the web page.
Add and insert member data in the JSON file using PHP.
Edit and update member data in JSON file.
Delete member data from the JSON file.

Before getting started to create a CRUD application with JSON file and PHP, take a look at the file structure.

php_crud_with_json/
├── index.php
├── addEdit.php
├── userAction.php
├── Json.class.php
├── json_files/
├── bootstrap/
│   └── bootstrap.min.css
├── css/
│   └── style.css
└── images/

Create JSON File

Since the JSON file will be used to store data without using any database, a JSON file is required. In the “json_files/” directory, the JSON files will be created dynamically to store the member’s information.

Name (name)
Email (email)
Phone (phone)
Country (country)

The stored data format in the JSON file will look like below.

[
  {
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "john@codex.com",
    "phone": "123-456-7890",
    "country": "USA",
    "id": 1646116158
  }
]

JSON Handler Class (Json.class.php)

The Json class is a custom PHP library that handles all the CRUD-related operations (fetch, insert, update, and delete) with JSON file. Specify the directory where the JSON file will be stored and the name of the JSON file ($jsonFile).

getRows() – Fetch records from the JSON file using file_get_contents() function in PHP.
- The PHP usort() function is used to sort array data in descending order.
getSingle() – Get single record from the JSON data by ID using array_filter() function in PHP.
insert() – Store data into the JSON file using file_put_contents() function in PHP.
update() – Update existing data by ID in the JSON file.
delete() – Remove a record from the JSON file by ID.

<?php 
/* 
 * JSON Class 
 * This class is used for json file related (connect, insert, update, and delete) operations 
 * @author    CodexWorld.com 
 * @url        http://www.codexworld.com 
 * @license    http://www.codexworld.com/license 
 */ 
class Json{ 
    private $jsonFile = "json_files/data.json"; 
     
 
    public function getRows(){ 
        if(file_exists($this->jsonFile)){ 
            $jsonData = file_get_contents($this->jsonFile); 
            $data = json_decode($jsonData, true); 
             
            if(!empty($data)){ 
                usort($data, function($a, $b) { 
                    return $b['id'] - $a['id']; 
                }); 
            } 
             
            return !empty($data)?$data:false; 
        } 
        return false; 
    } 
     
    public function getSingle($id){ 
        $jsonData = file_get_contents($this->jsonFile); 
        $data = json_decode($jsonData, true); 
        $singleData = array_filter($data, function ($var) use ($id) { 
            return (!empty($var['id']) && $var['id'] == $id); 
        }); 
        $singleData = array_values($singleData)[0]; 
        return !empty($singleData)?$singleData:false; 
    } 
     
    public function insert($newData){ 
        if(!empty($newData)){ 
            $id = time(); 
            $newData['id'] = $id; 
             
            $jsonData = file_get_contents($this->jsonFile); 
            $data = json_decode($jsonData, true); 
             
            $data = !empty($data)?array_filter($data):$data; 
            if(!empty($data)){ 
                array_push($data, $newData); 
            }else{ 
                $data[] = $newData; 
            } 
            $insert = file_put_contents($this->jsonFile, json_encode($data)); 
             
            return $insert?$id:false; 
        }else{ 
            return false; 
        } 
    } 
     
    public function update($upData, $id){ 
        if(!empty($upData) && is_array($upData) && !empty($id)){ 
            $jsonData = file_get_contents($this->jsonFile); 
            $data = json_decode($jsonData, true); 
             
            foreach ($data as $key => $value) { 
                if ($value['id'] == $id) { 
                    if(isset($upData['name'])){ 
                        $data[$key]['name'] = $upData['name']; 
                    } 
                    if(isset($upData['email'])){ 
                        $data[$key]['email'] = $upData['email']; 
                    } 
                    if(isset($upData['phone'])){ 
                        $data[$key]['phone'] = $upData['phone']; 
                    } 
                    if(isset($upData['country'])){ 
                        $data[$key]['country'] = $upData['country']; 
                    } 
                } 
            } 
            $update = file_put_contents($this->jsonFile, json_encode($data)); 
             
            return $update?true:false; 
        }else{ 
            return false; 
        } 
    } 
     
    public function delete($id){ 
        $jsonData = file_get_contents($this->jsonFile); 
        $data = json_decode($jsonData, true); 
             
        $newData = array_filter($data, function ($var) use ($id) { 
            return ($var['id'] != $id); 
        }); 
        $delete = file_put_contents($this->jsonFile, json_encode($newData)); 
        return $delete?true:false; 
    } 
}

CRUD Operations with JSON (userAction.php)

The userAction.php file performs the CRUD operations using PHP and JSON (Json handler class). The code is executed based on the requested action.

Add/Edit Record:
- The form is submitted by userSubmit with the POST method.
- Retrieve input field’s value using PHP $_POST method.
- Validate input data with PHP.
- If existing ID is supplied, update data in existing JSON file using update() method of the Json class. Otherwise, put data in the JSON file using the insert() method of the Json class.
Delete Records – If delete is requested in action_type, remove data from JSON file based on the id given in the query string.
After the data manipulation, the status is stored in SESSION with PHP and redirects back to the respective page.

<?php 
// Start session 
session_start(); 
 
// Include and initialize DB class 
require_once 'Json.class.php'; 
$db = new Json(); 
 
// Set default redirect url 
$redirectURL = 'index.php'; 
 
if(isset($_POST['userSubmit'])){ 
    // Get form fields value 
    $id = $_POST['id']; 
    $name = trim(strip_tags($_POST['name'])); 
    $email = trim(strip_tags($_POST['email'])); 
    $phone = trim(strip_tags($_POST['phone'])); 
    $country = trim(strip_tags($_POST['country'])); 
     
    $id_str = ''; 
    if(!empty($id)){ 
        $id_str = '?id='.$id; 
    } 
     
    // Fields validation 
    $errorMsg = ''; 
    if(empty($name)){ 
        $errorMsg .= '<p>Please enter your name.</p>'; 
    } 
    if(empty($email) || !filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)){ 
        $errorMsg .= '<p>Please enter a valid email.</p>'; 
    } 
    if(empty($phone)){ 
        $errorMsg .= '<p>Please enter contact no.</p>'; 
    } 
    if(empty($country)){ 
        $errorMsg .= '<p>Please enter country name.</p>'; 
    } 
     
    // Submitted form data 
    $userData = array( 
        'name' => $name, 
        'email' => $email, 
        'phone' => $phone, 
        'country' => $country 
    ); 
     
    // Store the submitted field value in the session 
    $sessData['userData'] = $userData; 
     
    // Submit the form data 
    if(empty($errorMsg)){ 
        if(!empty($_POST['id'])){ 
            // Update user data 
            $update = $db->update($userData, $_POST['id']); 
             
            if($update){ 
                $sessData['status']['type'] = 'success'; 
                $sessData['status']['msg'] = 'Member data has been updated successfully.'; 
                 
                // Remove submitted fields value from session 
                unset($sessData['userData']); 
            }else{ 
                $sessData['status']['type'] = 'error'; 
                $sessData['status']['msg'] = 'Some problem occurred, please try again.'; 
                 
                // Set redirect url 
                $redirectURL = 'addEdit.php'.$id_str; 
            } 
        }else{ 
            // Insert user data 
            $insert = $db->insert($userData); 
             
            if($insert){ 
                $sessData['status']['type'] = 'success'; 
                $sessData['status']['msg'] = 'Member data has been added successfully.'; 
                 
                // Remove submitted fields value from session 
                unset($sessData['userData']); 
            }else{ 
                $sessData['status']['type'] = 'error'; 
                $sessData['status']['msg'] = 'Some problem occurred, please try again.'; 
                 
                // Set redirect url 
                $redirectURL = 'addEdit.php'.$id_str; 
            } 
        } 
    }else{ 
        $sessData['status']['type'] = 'error'; 
        $sessData['status']['msg'] = '<p>Please fill all the mandatory fields.</p>'.$errorMsg; 
         
        // Set redirect url 
        $redirectURL = 'addEdit.php'.$id_str; 
    } 
     
    // Store status into the session 
    $_SESSION['sessData'] = $sessData; 
}elseif(($_REQUEST['action_type'] == 'delete') && !empty($_GET['id'])){ 
    // Delete data 
    $delete = $db->delete($_GET['id']); 
     
    if($delete){ 
        $sessData['status']['type'] = 'success'; 
        $sessData['status']['msg'] = 'Member data has been deleted successfully.'; 
    }else{ 
        $sessData['status']['type'] = 'error'; 
        $sessData['status']['msg'] = 'Some problem occurred, please try again.'; 
    } 
     
    // Store status into the session 
    $_SESSION['sessData'] = $sessData; 
} 
 
// Redirect to the respective page 
header("Location:".$redirectURL); 
exit(); 
?>

Bootstrap Library

We will use the Bootstrap library to make the table, form, and buttons look better. You can omit it to use custom stylesheet for HTML table, form, buttons, and other UI elements.

Include the CSS file of the Bootstrap library.

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.1.3/css/bootstrap.min.css">

Read & Delete Records (index.php)

In the index.php file, we will retrieve the records from the JSON file using Json class and list them in a tabular format with Add, Edit, and Delete options.

The Add link redirects to the addEdit.php page to perform the Create operation.
The Edit link redirects to the addEdit.php page to perform the Update operation.
The Delete link redirects to the userAction.php file with action_type=delete and id params. In the userAction.php file, the record is deleted from the JSON file based on the unique identifier (id).

<?php 
// Start session 
session_start(); 
 
// Retrieve session data 
$sessData = !empty($_SESSION['sessData'])?$_SESSION['sessData']:''; 
 
// Include and initialize JSON class 
require_once 'Json.class.php'; 
$db = new Json(); 
 
// Fetch the member's data 
$members = $db->getRows(); 
 
// Get status message from session 
if(!empty($sessData['status']['msg'])){ 
    $statusMsg = $sessData['status']['msg']; 
    $statusMsgType = $sessData['status']['type']; 
    unset($_SESSION['sessData']['status']); 
} 
?>

<!-- Display status message -->
<?php if(!empty($statusMsg) && ($statusMsgType == 'success')){ ?>
<div class="col-xs-12">
    <div class="alert alert-success"><?php echo $statusMsg; ?></div>
</div>
<?php }elseif(!empty($statusMsg) && ($statusMsgType == 'error')){ ?>
<div class="col-xs-12">
    <div class="alert alert-danger"><?php echo $statusMsg; ?></div>
</div>
<?php } ?>

<div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-12 head">
        <h5>Members</h5>
        <!-- Add link -->
        <div class="float-right">
            <a href="addEdit.php" class="btn btn-success"><i class="plus"></i> New Member</a>
        </div>
    </div>
    
    <!-- List the users -->
    <table class="table table-striped table-bordered">
        <thead class="thead-dark">
            <tr>
                <th>#</th>
                <th>Name</th>
                <th>Email</th>
                <th>Phone</th>
                <th>Country</th>
                <th>Action</th>
            </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
            <?php if(!empty($members)){ $count = 0; foreach($members as $row){ $count++; ?>
            <tr>
                <td><?php echo $count; ?></td>
                <td><?php echo $row['name']; ?></td>
                <td><?php echo $row['email']; ?></td>
                <td><?php echo $row['phone']; ?></td>
                <td><?php echo $row['country']; ?></td>
                <td>
                    <a href="addEdit.php?id=<?php echo $row['id']; ?>" class="btn btn-warning">edit</a>
                    <a href="userAction.php?action_type=delete&id=<?php echo $row['id']; ?>" class="btn btn-danger" onclick="return confirm('Are you sure to delete?');">delete</a>
                </td>
            </tr>
            <?php } }else{ ?>
            <tr><td colspan="6">No member(s) found...</td></tr>
            <?php } ?>
        </tbody>
    </table>
</div>

Create & Update Records (addEdit.php)

The addEdit.php handles the create and update form functionality.

Initially, an HTML form is displayed to allow input data.
If the id parameter exists on the URL, the existing member data will be retrieved from the database based on this ID and the form fields will be pre-filled.
After the form submission, the form data is posted to the userAction.php file to insert/update the record in the JSON file.

<?php 
// Start session 
session_start(); 
 
// Retrieve session data 
$sessData = !empty($_SESSION['sessData'])?$_SESSION['sessData']:''; 
 
// Get member data 
$memberData = $userData = array(); 
if(!empty($_GET['id'])){ 
    // Include and initialize JSON class 
    include 'Json.class.php'; 
    $db = new Json(); 
     
    // Fetch the member data 
    $memberData = $db->getSingle($_GET['id']); 
} 
$userData = !empty($sessData['userData'])?$sessData['userData']:$memberData; 
unset($_SESSION['sessData']['userData']); 
 
$actionLabel = !empty($_GET['id'])?'Edit':'Add'; 
 
// Get status message from session 
if(!empty($sessData['status']['msg'])){ 
    $statusMsg = $sessData['status']['msg']; 
    $statusMsgType = $sessData['status']['type']; 
    unset($_SESSION['sessData']['status']); 
} 
?>

<!-- Display status message -->
<?php if(!empty($statusMsg) && ($statusMsgType == 'success')){ ?>
<div class="col-xs-12">
    <div class="alert alert-success"><?php echo $statusMsg; ?></div>
</div>
<?php }elseif(!empty($statusMsg) && ($statusMsgType == 'error')){ ?>
<div class="col-xs-12">
    <div class="alert alert-danger"><?php echo $statusMsg; ?></div>
</div>
<?php } ?>

<div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-12">
        <h2><?php echo $actionLabel; ?> Member</h2>
    </div>
    <div class="col-md-6">
         <form method="post" action="userAction.php">
            <div class="form-group">
                <label>Name</label>
                <input type="text" class="form-control" name="name" placeholder="Enter your name" value="<?php echo !empty($userData['name'])?$userData['name']:''; ?>" required="">
            </div>
            <div class="form-group">
                <label>Email</label>
                <input type="email" class="form-control" name="email" placeholder="Enter your email" value="<?php echo !empty($userData['email'])?$userData['email']:''; ?>" required="">
            </div>
            <div class="form-group">
                <label>Phone</label>
                <input type="text" class="form-control" name="phone" placeholder="Enter contact no" value="<?php echo !empty($userData['phone'])?$userData['phone']:''; ?>" required="">
            </div>
            <div class="form-group">
                <label>Country</label>
                <input type="text" class="form-control" name="country" placeholder="Enter country name" value="<?php echo !empty($userData['country'])?$userData['country']:''; ?>" required="">
            </div>
            
            <a href="index.php" class="btn btn-secondary">Back</a>
            <input type="hidden" name="id" value="<?php echo !empty($memberData['id'])?$memberData['id']:''; ?>">
            <input type="submit" name="userSubmit" class="btn btn-success" value="Submit">
        </form>
    </div>
</div>

PHP CRUD Operations with Search and Pagination

Conclusion

This JSON CRUD is a lightweight and easy-to-use script to integrate data management functionality without using the database. The data listing, view, insert, update, and delete operations can be handled with JSON files using PHP. You can enhance the functionality of this CRUD script to make it user-friendly by integrating PHP CRUD operations without page refresh using JSON file.

Do you want to get implementation help, or enhance the functionality of this script? Click here to Submit Service Request

Download Source Code

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3 Comments

DONCE Said...

Good JOB, Thanks a lot.

March 8, 2023 at 8:04 PM
Edidiong Udoh Said...

Thanks

July 11, 2022 at 2:49 PM
David Martim Said...

Thanks by this great contribuition! Will be very usefull to me and others developers!

May 1, 2022 at 11:56 PM

PHP CRUD Operations with JSON File

Create JSON File

JSON Handler Class (Json.class.php)

CRUD Operations with JSON (userAction.php)

Bootstrap Library

Read & Delete Records (index.php)

Create & Update Records (addEdit.php)

Conclusion

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